This feels like a family gathering where everyone loves grandpa but what’s that smell?

Maybe it’s me, but bringing back a part-time hitter at a spot where you have a Cuban question mark and the terminal Adam Dunn hardly seems like the way to compete with the Tigers.

The Sox left it up to Konerko and he chose the wrong option for a team that desperately needs to get younger, healthier and better at the plate.

Don’t say the Sox had no choice. They did, and their choice was to leave the decision to Konerko. Remember, the Sox have made ugly public decisions before with Hall-of-Famer Carlton Fisk and future Hall-of-Famer Frank Thomas. The Sox could've made the decision to say thanks, but no thanks with Konerko.

Instead, Konerko got to make the decision that nobody in the Sox front office should want if we’re talking about play on the field, not the warm and fuzzy Cub-like thing.

To distinguish, I'm like everybody else who has ever met Konerko or even just seen the professional way he comports himself. That's different that earning a spot on a roster. Konerko is a prince. But he's not Prince Fielder.

It’s understandable the Sox left the decision to Konerko. He’s one of the greatest Sox players ever. He captained the Sox’s only World Series winner since 1917. His grand slam off Chad Qualls is legendary.

But that will be nine years past when Konerko gets to spring training with a body injured more regularly and with statistics flagging and far more inconsistent. It’s not Konerko’s fault. Until someone can figure out how to stop the aging process, it will happen to everyone.

But the Sox let it happen to their 2014 roster that was supposed to change considerably after a disastrous 2013.